Mama
by Saiph Nebula
Summary: One-shot surrounding EVA after giving birth, with a Big Boss cameo. Rated T because I thought the content might be a little sensitive for some under 13s . "What more could she have expected except the cold, disdainful look at her round belly"


Mama

Two tiny, chubby red faces. Four curled up fists, forty perfectly formed fingers and toes. Matching eyes blinking with confusion up at the face they'd only seen a few hours ago, no longer wrapped in warm snugness with the constant thump of a heartbeat singing like a lullaby, both baby boys seemed oblivious to anything but this small change.

The woman whose heart used to beat in rhythm to their own looked down at them in her arms. To her only children so young could look so innocent. She'd named them too, oh she'd been told not to, told that her part in their lives would only last until she gave birth, but she couldn't help herself. It had been easy at first, when she was impregnated she hadn't felt any different at all. No morning sickness, no visible change in features. Of course she slowly grew larger, she often thought she could feel the flutter of life in her filled womb but would often ignore it. She was doing her part for the Patriots, she was doing this because she was what they needed...

It had been harder then she'd expected when they'd aborted several of the foetus'. 'It was for the best,' they'd told her. Just part of the mission to produce perfect children, perfect clones.

She still felt a little emptier, even when her hips grew wider and her stomach became scarred with ugly stretch marks. She considered it the price of her actions, her punishment for agreeing to create life in such an unnatural way. But soon she would deliver two healthy babies from her own body into the world. And those children would be marvellous, beautiful, because they were _his_.

One of the babies mouths suddenly opened wide as he emitted a warbling cry.

'Hungry' her instincts told her. It wasn't hard to remove her breast from the loose gown she wore. Even as her body ached with the trial that had been childbirth, the sight and feel of her body nourishing this little person cradled against her chest was so perfect she felt her eyes begin to water.

"What have you done to me boys?" she whispered lovingly, unable to resent them at all simply because she had grown soft. She smiled, "Should have known better, just like your father...".

A memory she'd tried her best to bury and forget flickered through her mind. Somehow _he'd_ found out, she had her suspicions as to who had informed him, but she couldn't argue that part of her had hoped he'd hear, that he'd come back for whatever reason and...

And what? What more could she have expected except the cold, disdainful look at her round belly. She'd placed both hands around herself, leaning away from him on the bed. She didn't bother asking how he'd gotten into the security base she'd been staying in for the past eight months. It was Snake. It was Big Boss himself.

"It's wrong" he'd said, standing beside her door as if blocking her exit. Did he expect her to flee? To call for help?

"I'm doing this for you" she'd blurted out, surprising herself with the admission. For one tiny moment she'd forgotten about battlefields and bombs, murder and war. "You have sons John".

He'd looked... repulsed. "They're abominations, freaks of science. Life isn't meant to be played with like that, isn't meant to be _manipulated_."

Perhaps if he had found her earlier she would have agreed, would have regretted what she'd done and gone with him to destroy the children like he'd asked. But even in that tiny fraction of a second that she considered it, considered leaving the Patriots and staying with him, she knew she couldn't. She was in too deep with no way out. The kick against her hand as it pressed into her side only strengthened her resolve.

"Do you think they'll let you be a part of their life? You're not their mother, you're the carrier – the surrogate" he'd spat the words at her like they burned, "I thought you were better then this EVA. Smart enough not to be used by them"

"But it's what I do" she'd argued feebly.

With one child still suckling her breast and the other drifting off into easy sleep, EVA wondered if he was right. Had she made a mistake?

Perhaps. But these were her children, Les Enfants Terribles. Maybe they didn't share blood, but genetics weren't everything.

Leaning forward so her blond hair covered her reddened face she whispered almost inaudibly to the boys she'd never see again.

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

Disclaimer: I own not rights to Metal Gear or its characters etc.

Originally I had her whisper 'Don't forget about me', but it didn't feel right. Thoughts? Feelings? Tingles?


End file.
